Trying not to change the future
by the pianist 123
Summary: When Naruto is stuck in the past in the body of a four year old he's determined not to change the future. Doing this is not so easy though when according to DNA you are the younger brother of a certain Minato Namikaze who is determined to avoid losing his only shot at having a family. Will Naruto disappear of off the face of the earth or will Minato find him first? time travel
1. Chapter 1

**To whoever is out there reading this hi… I guess… First chapter is done! This is my first fanfiction so please be patient and tell me if there is anything that can be improved on.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did then the show would have Iruka permanently shrunk sometime in Naruto shipudden and left under team seven's care, Madara dead, Gai and lee sent to the third shinobi war in order to traumatize team minato with their manly hugs, a living Obito who survived the massacre as well as a living Yondaime who is very overprotective when it comes to Naruto. Unfortunately Naruto has none of this hence; I do not own the show. **

Chapter 1:

Crash! Naruto collided with the battlefield below, forming a ripple of dust and splinters of wood as if he had crashed into water instead of a battlefield in the process. Looking down at his feet Naruto quietly cursed as he saw the small pool of blood that was rapidly forming at the base of his feet. He was in a worse state than he had originally thought…

Crunch… crackle… crunch… Naruto looked up. Pein was once again launching himself towards him, ready for another round. Throwing a punch at Naruto the young blonde blocked, countering with a hastily formed rasengan. Pein simply dodged the attack, retreating till the next round.

Glaring at the retreating figure Naruto scowled. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Pein was playing around with him. He had yet to use a destructive jutsu, he yet to call up the Pein's that had murdered his beloved sensei.

Pein would call for them eventually though. He wouldn't play around with Naruto forever after-all. When that time happens the other Peins would defeat him minutes, leaving him to the Akatsuki whilst they went on to rip Konoha to sheds. If he wanted to save Konoha, if he wanted to save _himself_ then he would have to change tactics; and soon.

But what could he do? Use his best attacks against him? Already done that and failed miserably too. Call for Back-up? Too risky, Pein could end up getting closer to Konoha in the process of doing it. Besides, if couldn't defeat Pein, if one of the _legendary Sannin_ couldn't kill Pein then who could?

No, what he needed was a jutsu, a jutsu so powerful that it could defeat even the most powerful of men regardless of the cost… '_Of course!' _Naruto's eyes widened as he recalled a memory dating back from his travels with Jiraya. Perhaps he and the rest of Konoha were not doomed to destruction after-all…

FLASHBACK!

"Stupid Ero-sannin, Stupid research…" Naruto grumbled to himself as he sat down at the towns local Ramen stand with a huff.

Looking at the menu Naruto cheered up as he saw his favourite flavour on the menu "Miso ramen please!" he shouted.

"Miso ramen… not many people like that flavour you know." A calm, mysterious voice coming from Naruto's right commented.

"Whirling around in his chair Naruto turned to face the mysterious man. Looking at his face strangely for a few moments he stared at the man before his own face morphed into a large smile "Yeah, miso ramen's my favourite!"

"What a coincidence, miso ramen is my favourite too, do you like ramen a lot?" the man asked.

"Yeah, old man Teuchi back in Konoha makes the best Ramen ever!" Naruto shouted in reply.

"Konoha…" The stranger paused "Are you a ninja by any chance" He asked, looking at Naruto's headband.

"Yeah, in fact I'm gonna be the next hokage -ttebayo!" Naruto shouted, unable to stop himself from inputting his verbal tick in the process.

"…Why do you want to become Hokage?" the man finally asked after a few moments of silence

"Because I want to protect the ones that I care about" Naruto simply said after a few moments of silence

"Want to protect the ones you care about huh…" The man looked at Naruto intently for a few seconds, lost in thought "what would you say if I were to tell you that I could teach you a jutsu that would help you with that?"  
Would you really do that! Teach me please!" Naruto practically begged, stars in his eyes as he did so.

"Yes I would, but don't get ahead of yourself." The man began by saying "The jutsu that I would teach you is called the Taimuwapu no jutsu. Using this jutsu speeds up time for the person it is aimed at such a rate that they disintegrate within seconds. For this reason the jutsu is extremely powerful and can kill even the strongest of beings, however there is a downside. If used an imbalance in time is created due to the speeding up of time hence the balance of time must be restored by the user being sent back in time to a random era, being shrunk to between the ages of 3-12 and from then onwards they would physically age at a slower age then normal as well as being physically weaker too. Do you understand what this means. It means that if you use the jutsu then you will never see the people you care about again. Do you still want to learn how to use this jutsu?"

Looking at the man with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face Naruto faced him "Does it really matter?" He asked "Who cares if I never see my friends again? Who cares if I am stuck in a place where there is no one who cares about me? As long as my friends are safe then that's what really counts!"

"…Good answer…" the man simply said "Now listen close since I will not repeat anything for your sake. The jutsu starts with this hand seal…"

Naruto simply smiles as he began to listen to the man's lesson.

Flashback end!

Remembering the jutsu that the man had taught him Naruto smiled. It was an unusual smile for him. Too melancholic and nostalgic too be classified as one of his usual smiles.

Crunch…

Pulled out of his reverie by the sound of Pein shifting his weight Naruto began to focus as he formed his first hand sign.

"Cat…"

Pein, noticing that Naruto had begun to form an unknown jutsu began to run towards the young blonde, forming the necessary hand signs for an experimental jutsu he had been recently working on as he did so.

"Dog…"

Hand signs complete. Pein started to form a large ball of energy. A large ball of death and destruction that was heading right towards Naruto…

"Bear…"

There it was Coming closer and closer. He could feel time start to slow as what could most possibly be his death sentence continued to come closer… and closer...

"Fish…"

It was close now. Far too close for his personal taste. Its light blinded him. Its heat burnt his skin. Even worse though, as the raging inferno got closer and closer Naruto realised that his chakra was beginning to weaken. That was its purpose. To suck him of his power and leave him powerless… defenceless… sure to lose…

Desperately hoping that he still had enough chakra Naruto hastily formed the last hand sign…

"…Tiger!"

Jutsu complete Naruto's eyes widened as a thin ray of chakra began to appear from his chest. It steadily grew as it began to head in a certain direction. But where?

Creating an imaginary line in his head Naruto's face morphed into an expression of unhidden horror as realised where the jutsu was heading. It was heading straight towards Pein's jutsu!

Watching the two attacks come closer… and closer together Naruto wanted to look away. But he couldn't, didn't dare to as the attack only got closer and closer.

Watching the two attacks approach each other with bated breath Naruto tensed, waiting for the inevitable explosion that was bound to happen.

Except that it didn't.

It was unbelievable. Impossible. Completely against the laws of physics yet Naruto couldn't deny his eyes as he saw what really happened. As he saw his seeming puny and insignificant attack go straight through Pein's raging inferno, popping it as if it was a bubble. Stopped in its tracks Pein's attack dispersed into a million glowing lights of chakra, falling to the ground like snow. It was magical…

Unaffected by its previous obstacle Naruto's jutsu continued on. Heading towards its true target; Pein.

Shocked by what had had happened Pein was unable to move, frozen as his death sentence continued to approach his dazed form. A few seconds later it hit. Naruto could only watch as a pair of purple eyes began to widen and its body began to wrinkle, dry and shrivel up. A few seconds later all that was left was a pile of dust that would soon be blown away.

Amazed by the fact that he had actually _won _Naruto's knees began to buckle, causing his to fall to the ground. A few seconds later he realised that something was wrong, very wrong.

Darkness had begun to creep into the edges of his vision. Panicking Naruto began to hyperventilate as his breathing grew desperate and crazy, yet his mind slowed.

Desperate to remain conscious Naruto tried to fight against the darkness with all of his might. However he was powerless to stop it. Powerless to stop his mind from becoming hazier and hazier as the seconds ticked by. Powerless to stop himself from toppling over as he slowly began to fade away… leaving behind a battle field filled with a million and one falling lights.

…

Blood. There was blood in the air. Stopping, a young minato namikaze looked around, his nose trying to discover the source of the worrying smell. Eyes narrowing they followed his nose only to discover the location of the worrying scent. A bush; the perfect location for a trap.

Slowly walking towards the bush Minato mentally scoured his surroundings for foreign chakra in order to see if the blood was a trap. He found nothing save for a very weak chakra signal coming from the bush itself. Someone was in there.

The chakra signal was faint, whoever it belonged to was in the process of dying as his organs slowly began to shut down. Judgeing by the amount of chakra if whoever it was wasn't brought to a hospital and soon then they would soon die of chakra exhaustion. Deciding to risk it Minato slowly walked towards the bush. Taking in a deep breath as he began to part the leaves in order to see what was inside.

What he saw shocked him.

There was a boy. A mere _infant_ of three, possibly four years of age. He was injured, and badly. It made Minato want to vomit as he saw the dirty, blood matted brown hair. As he saw the boys wounds; some shallow, some deep oozing blood in order to form a steadily growing pool of blood. As he saw the boys ankle obviously sprained he realised that no matter whether it was a trap or not he had to take the boy to a hospital, it would be cruel to leave him to die.

Picking him up, Minato silently thanked whatever Gods there were out there that he was near Konoha as he began to head towards it.

**Wow, its already done. Hopefully it's not too bad.**

**But still, this story is slightly Au so here are some notes just in order to clear some things up.**

**Notes:**

**Battlefield: In case anyone hasn't noticed I changed the location of Peins battle to forest pretty far away from Konoha. I did this because if the battle took place away from Konoha then in later chapters Naruto may be less inclined on making some of the decisions that plan on having him make.**

**Pein's jutsu: Yes I know, this jutsu isn't one that Pein actually uses however I wasn't really sure about what sort of jutsu I could have used instead so in order to create a bit of tension I decided to make one up.**

**Taimuwapu no jutsu: I pretty much explained this in the story but to put it simply the jutsu essentially sends its user back in time and shrinks it in the process. As for the side effect of growing more slowly and being a bit physically weaker I did this because to affect the speed of time an insane amount of chakra must be used. So much that I doubt that even Naruto would have enough chakra for it. Of course I can't allow Naruto die from chakra exhaustion therefore another way must be found to provide the chakra needed. The answer; make the user (A.K.A: Naruto) continue to provide the chakra needed for the jutsu throughout the rest of their lives. Of course this constant drainage of energy would affect him hence being physically weaker and growing more slowly. Oh and as a side note Taimuwapu no jutsu essentially means time warp no jutsu in Japanese.**

**That's all that I could think of for now however if anyone has any other questions then please tell me by reviewing and I'll be happy to answer them.**

**Even if you don't have any questions then don't refrain from reviewing after-all the button may no longer be big and it may no longer be blue however that doesn't mean that you cannot review. So please do. Reviewing raises my self-esteem and update faster too!**


	2. Chapter 2

**19 reviews, 28 favourites, 44 followers, 665 views, wow… I can't believe that so many people have liked, favourite, followed, viewed and even reviewed something written by me. Thank you!**

**To be honest if it wasn't for the fact that I've have so many reviews this probably wouldn't have been posted for at least another week so enjoy and review if you want faster updates. They really do motivate me you know. **

**Chapter 2**

_Blood, there was so much blood. He could see it everywhere. On the dry, crackly leaves of autumn, on the bright green shoots of a soon to be spring. To some it would have seemed as if barely anything was there, but to him there was so much. Too much. Because it wasn't just anyone's blood; It was _his_ blood._

_Continuing on his quest to follow the bloody trail to its source he continued to advance through the forest, paying no heed to the forest animals that were observing him from the shadows. After a while he stopped and frowned. The drops of blood were getting bigger, it was worrying. _

_Quickening his pace he began to run through the forest, his heart starting to beat faster and faster as he did so. Following the trail he continued with his quickened pace. Then he stopped. The source of the blood had been discovered; a bush. _

_Staring at the bush, he slowly approached it, careful not step on any leaves or twigs that might give his presence away. Having finally arrived at the bush he stood before it. Mentally counting to three in his mind he slowly breathed in a deep breath before parting away the leaves of the bush, revealing its hidden contents._

_There he was, with his frail little body and hair as bright as the sun. With his little whisker marks and tanned skin; tanned skin that was marred by the sickening colour of bright red that coloured so much of it. It made his stomach lurch to see those colours clash into a nauseating ensemble especially when there was so much red. Red that was pooling out of the slash wound on his right thigh, from the stab wound on his chest, from the small cut on his cheek and from so many places the gushing of red, bright red blood never seemed to come to an end._

_But why? Why did this sight make his stomach lurch and want to spend the next thousand and one nights vomiting in the nearest blood-free bush _so much?_ Why? Why was it that although he had seen the blood and deaths of so many others be they men, women, children or even _babies_ the sight of _this_ particular child's blood made him want to scream to the heavens in anguish like never before? Why?_

_The answer was simple. So _blindingly _simple. It was because the boy in front of him wasn't just any old boy._

_It was _him.

_His-_

RIIIIIIIIING!

Eyes shooting open to reveal sky blue orbs Minato shot upwards in order to sit up, panting frantically in the process. Regaining his composure after a few minutes of panicked confusion he quietly growled to himself. For the last two days ever since he had brought the young infant to the hospital he had been getting nightmare's, exaggerations of the situation in which he had found him in.

He was a ninja; he didn't get nightmares unless there was a reason behind it. Something was definitely up. Pensively contemplating the situation to himself he frowned before relaxing as his lips began to twitch upwards into a small smirk.

The nurses had told him that the boy wouldn't be waking up for at least another few days, however that didn't mean that he couldn't pay a visit in the meantime and _perhaps _do a little bit of research in the process.

…

Sighing Minato looked at the clock. Ten minutes had passed since his arrival at the hospital and the only thing that was stopping him from doing a thorough investigation on everything to do with the boy was Tsunade.

Tsunade; one of the legendary sannin and most probably one of the best medics to have ever existed. When he had first arrived at the hospital the nurses had informed him that Tsunade wanted to speak with him about the boy. To think that she , who was an extremely person wanted to take the time to see him about the boy specifically was… intriguing to put it simply. Intriguing enough for him to refrain from starting to do a bit of personal snooping… for the moment at least.

Looking at the clock once again Minato lightly shook his head from side to side in order to pull himself from his reverie. Looking at the boy that was the cause of so much mystery and intrigue that lay beside him Minato began to study the boy, trying to for the answer to his questions.

At a first glance there was nothing extraordinary about the boy. Blonde hair, tanned skin. At a first glance he seemed to be perfectly normal, however as he continued to study the boy like he had never studied anyone before he began to notice things. He began to notice how the boy's little whisker marks seemed to be too perfectly formed and symmetrical to be simple birthmarks. How the boy seemed too small, too weak even for someone his age. How every time he looked at the boy's face alarm bells seemed to start to ring in his mind; as if there was something blatantly obvious that would explain everything yet he just couldn't seem to put his finger on what.

'_Just who are you?' _he couldn't help but think to himself as he continued to observe the boy. A few seconds later he was pulled out of his reverie as he heard the clanking noise of heels colliding against the hospital floor. Tsunade had arrived.

A few seconds later she entered, confidently striding in "How is he?" Minato asked.

"He's doing rather well. We were able to stabilize his blood levels and his stitches and sprained ankle are healing rather well. He's still suffering from malnourishment though and it should be a few more days till he wakes up." She replied in a clinical, professional sounding voice.

"Oh, that's good" Minato commented. After a few moments of awkward silence between the two he continued "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

"About that, have you ever heard of the free range identification law before" She asked.

Frowning slightly Minato answered "Yeah, I have. It's essentially a law developed during the second shinobi war which states that if a stranger is found in a critical condition then if a high ranking member of the medical staff desires to do a DNA test to see if they are related to a certain person within Konoha then they have the right to do so within 42 hours of the strangers discovery. Why?" He finished by asking.

"Look at the boy closely" she said gesturing towards said boy "Does he remind you of anyone?"

"Yes, but I have yet to put my finger on what, why" He honestly answered.

"Ninja's these days… it's just pitiful" she mumbled to herself, sighing in exasperation "The boy looks like you Minato, exactly like you. That's why I took advantage of the free range identification law in order to run a DNA test between the two of you to see if the two of you were related since I know that you were found abandoned at birth and I received the results of the test just before you arrived at the hospital."

"And?" Minato prompted

"According to the DNA test the boy is your little brother" She finished, unsurprised by Minato's Gobsmacked expression.

…

"Could you please repeat that?" Sarutobi, the sandaime asked; doing his best to hide his shock from his former student and Minato.

"You know what I said, Sarutobi sensei" Tsunade calmly said, looking at her former teacher seriously. "The boy is related to Minato Namikaze, end of story"

"But how? We both know that Minato was found abandoned at an early age we spent _years_ trying to find his family. Isn't it at least a _little_ bit suspicious that suddenly someone who is apparently his little brother turns up from the middle of nowhere?" He said, looking at the two people in front on him.

"I know what you're thinking sensei" Tsunade said, sighing in exasperation "However DNA tests don't lie. Whether you like it or not the boy is related to Minato. As for where he came from the most likely theory is that like Minato here, he was abandoned. However for him there was no-one around to find him and take him to an orphanage, hence he's most likely been forced to live on the streets, going from one village to the next. He was probably on his way to Konoha when he was attacked. It would make sense since the kid seems pretty underweight for his age."

Accepting his former student's theory the Hokage simply rolled his eyes "Very well then. I'm guessing that you will be taking care of him when he wakes up, right Minato?" He asked, looking at the young jounin.

"Yes, he is my younger brother after-all" the young jounin confirmed.

"Very well then, you are both dismissed" the hokage said in response, bringing an end to the conversation.

Smiling to himself Minato left the room. To him everything seemed to be perfect.

Little did he know though, that little niche of paradise would soon evaporate…

…

'_Urgh… where am I' _Slowing waking up , clear blue orbs slowly revealed themselves to the world as Naruto clumsily pushed himself upwards with a groan. Looking around he realised that he was in a hospital, Konoha's hospital to be precise. That was good. However he couldn't help but feel as if something was wrong though.

He didn't know why felt like this. He was in Konoha hospital; He should be feeling safe and at ease, not on edge like was. Focusing on him surroundings he started to notice things that were… strange. It was nothing extraordinarily strange or worrying, it was little things instead. The way in which the bed he was in felt bigger than it should be, how the hospital beds looked at if they were higher off of the ground than they should be, how his limbs felt shorter and weaker than he had remembered them and so much more that when put together sent alarm bells ringing inside of his head. Looking down at his hands in confusion he tried to understand what had happened.

And stared.

His hand. It was… small? Yes, that was it. It was small and pudgy; as if he was a young child.

A young child…

It was at that moment that Naruto remembered _why _he was at the hospital. His eyes widened as he began to remember everything. He had been fighting against Pein, and losing in the process. He was desperate. Desperate to save his friends, his village he had used _it._ That jutsu. The Taimuwapu no jutsu. Could it really be though? Could he really be… in the past?

Scrambling out of his hospital bed Naruto began to run towards the nearest window. It couldn't be. He refused to believe it. He refused to believe that he was in the past; all alone, without any of his friends.

Reaching the window Naruto frantically peered out of it, searching for the hokage monument, hoping that there would be the familiar five faces. There wasn't though. There were only three faces.

Three faces.

He was in the past.

Sinking to the floor Naruto curled up into a ball shape. He was in the past, all alone and, judging by his hazy reflection in the mirror, was only three to four years of age. There were so many things that he could do. He could save his parents whose identities had been revealed to him by Jiraya. He could make sure that the future baby him grew up with a family. He could stop the Uchiha massacre. He could save Jiraya. He could do so much!

But what would happen if he did? What would happen if his presence caused someone who was supposed to live to die? What if changing the future meant that some of his friends were never born? Could he really live with the fact that his need to mess up with the worlds timeline meant that some of his friends never had the chance to _even exist_.

Could he do that? Could he take the risk of that happening for the sake of his own selfish desires? After a few moments of silent contemplation he realised that no, he couldn't.

What could he do then though? He was stuck in the past with no way back to the present after all. After scrunching his eyes up together for a few moments he came to a simple conclusion.

In order to avoid changing the past he would have to disappear…

…

Heading towards his younger brother's room Minato began to whistle a happy tune. Tsunade had said that he would still be asleep however that didn't mean that he couldn't check up on him. The boy was his little brother after all. Entering his little brother's hospital room he looked around, only to come to a sudden stop.

The room was empty.

His little brother was missing…

…

Looking at the view from the wagon he had snuck on Naruto sighed as he watched the village become smaller and smaller as the seconds ticked by. Looking at the view he began to remind himself of his little plan.

It was simple really. Since he didn't want to make an impact on the world he needed to make sure that he didn't stick out. The best way to do that was to hit the streets. There were literally thousands of young children living on the streets; another one could hardly make that much of a difference. Besides, It would probably be kind of fun to travel around the place, seeing the world in the process… right?

Sighing to himself sadly Naruto began to try and cheer himself up. At least he still had the kyuubi. Sure, the creature wasn't exactly the most sociable of beings out there however at least he was still there… Right? Now that he thought about it, he had felt strangely empty ever since he last awoke, as if the kyuubi wasn't inside of him. Entering his inner world in order to check Naruto searched around for the kyuubi. He wasn't there. Naruto looked around for him again. The kyuubi was gone.

As he exited his inner world something broke within Naruto as a myriad of emotion began to course through his body. It was at that moment that the fact that he was alone truly downed upon him. He was alone, completely and utterly alone. With that Naruto couldn't help but burst into tears.

**Wow, finished already. Thank you for reading this. But still, onto the notes!**

**Notes:**

**The nightmare: Minato's nightmare at the start of the chapter was basically his sub-concious trying to tell him that Naruto was closely related to him. I once heard of a story in which two twins had been separated from each other at birth. Years later when they met as adults with no knowledge of each other, after having found out that they were twins they both remarked that when they had first met each other they had felt an attraction to the other as if their subconscious was telling them that they were related. It was from that story that I got the idea for Minato's dream.**

**The free range identification law: This is basically a law that I decided to create for the sake of the story. I had originally tried to find some sort of a law that was similar to it in the canon however I was unable to so I had to make one up.**

**Naruto's decision: Naruto care's a lot about his friends. He basically grew up alone so deep down I personally believe that he is terrified of losing them. That's why he decided to abstain from changing the past, because he doesn't want to lose the people that he cared about, even if it that he has to turn down what could possibly be his only chance of gaining a family. Hence, his determination not to change the future.**

**Crying at the end of the chapter: Although he is technically sixteen years old Naruto is still stuck in the body of a three to four year old child so that is going to affect the way in which he behaves. For the most part he will still act like more or less like his usual himself however he will have his childish moments, for example at the end of this chapter.**

**It may seem as if the storyline is going along pretty slowly however I've read far too many potentially amazing stories that have been ruined by the authors need to rush along which is a fate that I intend to avoid. But still, even so that doesn't change the fact that I have quite a few really good ideas planned out for future chapters and things are going to really interesting soon. **

**Of course, you will have to wait for those chapters to come out first however reviewing will definitely speed up that process so please REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**41 reviews, 111 followers, 68 Favourites, 3 communities and 2710 views. Wow, just wow. Thank you! **

**But anyway I noticed that I had a few question and comments among my reviews so before the story starts I have officially decided to do so Questions and Answers so here we go (I've always wanted to do this! Yay!)**

**twilightromance4ever**

**Q:** H**ow old is minato? cause you said jounin and that implies at least sixteen or so but if minato was an orphan when he was young how would he become an older brother cause that would mean his mom would still have been alive when he was 12?**

**A: Firstly at this point in time Minato is currently 17 and became a jounin approximately a year ago. Also what I said was that minato was abandoned therefore never knew who his parents were. Because of this for all that he knew his parents could have been alive and having kids when he was thirteen years old therefore it is possible for him to have had such a young brother and yes, I guess that that does mean that his mother would be alive however since Naruto isn't actually his little brother but is instead his son from the future she may have been dead at the time anyway… who knows?**

**Tuttachechka**

**Q: the intelligence of Naruto – non canon**

**A: Okay, technically this is not a question however I felt like saying that although Naruto is usually not so logical in the canon I've noticed that there are times when faced with a serious situation Naruto becomes more serious than normal and being stuck in the past whilst being a threat to the future existence of your friends is about as serious as it gets if you ask me. Also I personally believe that naruto is a bit more intelligent than he lets on so by putting those two factors together one gets a slightly more logical and intelligent Naruto than normal. Oh and thanks for calling my story adorable!**

**HikariNoTenshi-San**

**Q: ...I wonder how badly Minato is panicking?**

**A: That shall be answered in the following chapter…**

**Ramen-Luver101**

**Q: poor naruto he is alone his dad is going to go all mama-bear to find him isn't he?**

**A: Probably… Okay almost certainly **

**Okay now that the questions have been answered onto the story!**

_His little brother was missing… _

_Looking at the empty bed of the hospital room Minato's knees began to buckle as he began to lean against a nearby wall; visions of what could have been racing through his mind. Visions of raising someone of his own flesh and blood; someone that he could protect, someone with whom he could be a family, go to the park, go on holiday with, have funny and embarrassing moments with. Someone that he could be an older brother to…_

_Only a few minutes before those visions had been filled with so much hope and joy, so much happiness at the fact that he could finally have a shot at having something that he had always dreamed of but had always thought that he would never have. Now all that Minato could do was all his normally composed and refine features to contort into shock and despair as those very same visions had started to become painfully bittersweet… So painfully bittersweet as those visions once again seemed to be out of his reach…_

_Taking in a deep breath Minato steadied himself as he continued to look at the empty hospital; slowly breathing in and out whilst doing so in order to get a grip over his raging emotions. After a few minutes of gathering his thoughts he focused his gaze upon the room; critical eyes analysing every single little detail available, trying to piece together what had happened from the little clues that were there as his initial blind panic began to fade away as logic finally began to kick in._

_The floor; there were no scuffle marks, no sign of a struggle, nothing that would suggest a kidnapping._

_The bed; it was unmade, however the right-hand corner of the bed had been pulled apart far too neatly for his little brother to have been taken away from the bed by force._

_The window; It was open; however It had not been forced open so it must have already been unlocked. Walking towards the window Minato looked out of it. There was a small ledge just below the window with a staircase leading to the ground connected to it; the perfect escape for a young child._

_The conclusion was simple; the boy, his little brother had run away, most probably because he had freaked out after waking up and had decided to get out of there before things got troublesome._

_Conclusion made Minato began to walk away from the hospital room, heading towards the Hokage's office as new emotion began to well up inside of him; determination. His precious visions of what could be may have been temporarily out of his reach however he be damned if he let it stay that way!_

_He wasn't going to let his only family slip through his fingers after all…_

"Minato? Hey, earth to Minato." Pulled out of his memory of what had happened the day before Minato blinked as the world around him came into focus.

Looking up Minato couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he came face to face with an impatient Tsunade who had her hands upon her hips "Yes, what is it?" he asked.

"The chunnin squad that was assigned to detect where your little brother had gone has finished their report and the Hokage has asked us to come in, so hurry up already Gaki!" She said impatiently, reaching over in order to tug his arm in an attempt to get him to hurry up.

After blankly blinking at the woman before him for a few seconds Minato shook his head as what she had said finally got through to his head "Let's go then" he simply said with a slight nod as they headed towards the Hokage's office; a ball of anticipation quickly forming within his stomach. Entering the room Minato quickly advanced towards the Hokage's desk; taking a seat along with Tsunade.

"What did they say?" Tsunade asked after a few seconds of awkward silence, looking at the Hokage with a serious expression on her face whilst doing so.

"According to the teams tracker the boy left the village approximately half an hour before you discovered his absence Minato and then left the village by hopping onto a supply wagon. Only one wagon left Konoha yesterday and it should be arriving in Isogashi village in approximately a day's time… which is why I'm officially assigning you Minato with a C rank mission to find the boy and bring him back to Konoha since, I have a feeling that you would do so anyway." The Hokage finished, a knowing smile upon his face.

Looking at the Hokage in shock Minato couldn't help but smile "Thank you, I'll be going now" with that simple reply out of the way he quickly left the room. Isogashi village was approximately a two day travel away for a ninja so he had to hurry; leaving Tsunade and the Hokage behind.

"Well… This should be interesting Tsunade finally said after a few minutes of awkward silence.

…

I was midday . Busy shoppers strolled across the market; buying a variety of different objects from a variety of different supplies from a variety of different stores. It just another day for the busy shoppers of Isogashi as they went about their business as unbeknownst to them, a young boy slipped out of a supply wagon coming from Konoha.

Sticking his head out of the leather flaps of the supply wagon Naruto took in a deep breath as he launched himself from the wagon into the unknown, his poor feet throbbing in protest and pain as they came into contact with the rocky ground below a few seconds later.

Looking around Naruto casually observed his surroundings. At a first glance everything seemed normal to Naruto since he had already visited the village a few times in the past, so it wasn't as if he was new to the town. A small smile etched itself upon his lips as he began to happily stroll down the town, a slight jump accompanying his every step.

Walking down the busy road Naruto's spirits couldn't help but rise even further. Everything really was the same! The muddy brown trousers of the farmers coming to trade were the same as before, the bakery that he had visited when the nearby ramen shop had closed for the day was _still_ there with the _same _old ever so slightly cheesy signpost and slogan held by a plastic figurate that was _still there_.

He may have been in the past however that didn't change the fact that everything looked the same; it was as if he hadn't landed in a foreign time in which his very existence could mean that his friends would never exist, a time in which he was alone, where no knew him, where no one care-

'_Stop thinking about that Naruto! Think about something else… Ramen! Yeah, the first type of ramen that can be found on Ichiraku's menu is…' _Shaking his wildly from one side to the other Naruto desperately tried to rid himself of those dark… depressing thoughts and distract himself with ramen. The thoughts that one part one of him desperately wanted to, no, needed to confront. The thoughts that another part of him so desperately wanted to lock away, hidden away from the world forever in the deepest and darkest corners of his mind.

After what seemed like an eternity to the young blonde his mind finally managed to focus itself on the wonders of ramen, meaning that as his frantic head shaking finally began to slow down he gained the ability to actually see what it was that his eyes were directing themselves at.

Big mistake.

His eyes just had to focus upon _her_ didn't it? Her, the kind old lady who had been kind enough to offer him a free apple every time. Except that it wasn't her was it? The kind old lady that he had known had had snow white hair that had always fascinated him; this lady's hair was nothing more than a disgusting mixture of mousey brown and drab grey. The kind old lady that he had known had had a kind face that was covered in wrinkles; something that this lady did not have.

Without meaning to Naruto began to gravitate towards the lady's apple stall, trying to convince himself that this middle aged woman wasn't the old lady that he had known. She wasn't… right?

Three metres away…

He was closer now, He could see more now too. The beginnings of permanent wrinkles forming upon her face; Wrinkles that seemed to be so similar to those of the old lady… No! That wasn't right was it? _'It can't be her? It just can't be!' _Naruto couldn't help but think to himself as he came even closer and closer to the stall.

Two metres away…

Her nose; it was familiar. From where though? Where? _'Her nose… It's the same as the old ladies' _Looking at its familiar, ever so slightly crooked shape Naruto couldn't help but come to that conclusion as he stared as something in his mind just clicked. Of course the shape of a nose meant nothing. It wasn't as if that middle aged imposter was actually his kind old lady just because the two of them shared the same nose… right?

One metre away…

He was so close now. It was at that moment that the old lady finally noticed him and began to smile…

Zero metres away…

Smiling at the young infant in front of her held out an apple to him "would you like an apple?" she asked.

Would you like an apple?

"_Would you like an apple?" Startled by the unexpected voice Naruto jumped ever so slightly, turning around to face the one who had addressed him. It was a woman, an old woman with snow white hair that seemed to entrance him and a kind smile on her face…_

It was her. There was no denying it as Naruto pulled himself out of his little dream-world of memories, forcing himself to face the reality of his situation. She was not an imposter; she really was the kind old lady. She, with her disgusting mix of grey and brown hair and her wrinkle-less face was his kind old lady!

Something broke inside of Naruto at that moment. A crack forming on the dam that he had been mentally placing upon himself from the moment that he had seen those three faces on the hokage monument; a crack that forced him to run.

Quickly forming a shaky smile in order to reassure the woman of the fact that his departure was not her fault blood rushed down to Naruto's legs as he broke into run; Weaving between the forest of a multitude of busy legs he ran faster… and faster. He ran faster than ever before.

Time seemed slow down to Naruto as he ran, crowds of moving legs coming to a slow halt as he continued onwards. It continued on like this for what seemed to be an eternity till BAM! Time seemed to speed up as he encountered a barrier, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud. Planning to glare at the one that he had encountered Naruto lifted his head upwards only to feel his heart come to sudden, shocked stop.

It was him. He couldn't believe it! The person that he had bumped into was him…

**DUN DUN DUN! Cliff-hanger! **

**Wow, I've finally finished this chapter! I know it's been over two ENTIRE weeks however I have been so busy… Honestly during the first week I was dumped with a ton of homework and therefore put off writing this chapter in the pitiful and vain hope that it would soon calm down after that week but then guess what! The next week a teacher of mine just had to tell me that I have an important controlled assessment that counts for part of one of my GCSE's! In less than two weeks! So of course poor little me has been busy panicking about the assessment and revising like crazy whilst my friends probably feel like murdering me in my sleep due to the fact that I've been moaning about how I'm going to fail my exam… again… oops…**

**But still sorry for that little rant. I'm kind of a bit stressed due to the exam and couldn't help but vent little. But still onto the notes!**

**Notes:**

**Isogashi village- Isogashi according to Google translate means busy in Japanese so it is essentially called busy village. I called the village that because I meant for it to have a nice, warm, friendly and busy atmosphere about hence the name.**

**The old lady- The old lady is an invention of mine who will probably not be serving an important purpose however she does serve an important purpose. You see although Naruto has come to the conclusion that he is in the past a part of him is still trying to deny it. After-all there is a difference between seeing a monument that is lacking two faces and seeing someone who is two decades younger than they should be. Therefore when Naruto first sees the old woman he tries to deny that it's her and think of her as an imposter instead however after he finally realises that it is her he can't look at her because it is too painful to. So he runs because if he runs away then perhaps he can try to forget that he's all alone, that no one cares about him since in his world he is just another street kid who nobody cares about him it and is currently unaware that he has a minato that wants a family hot on his heels. Of course it may seem silly that he is reacting so badly to being alone however Naruto grew up alone with the majority of people ignoring him and excluding him. Due to that I personally think that Naruto is scared of losing his friends, of being alone again. That's why he was reacting so badly.**

**The person that Naruto meets- That will be a mystery till the next chapter however it is someone that Naruto knows. To be honest there's two people that I'm kind of stuck between on for who it would be however I've pretty much made my mind up now. Free cookies to whoever guesses who the candidates are. And even if you are wrong your suggestion may just give me a good idea so put it in you reviews if you do review. Please do. **_**Pretty please?**_

**But still thank you for reading and please review. After all reviews are cool, reviews rule and reviews help me update to!  
So review. Please. After all pen and paper can cause a thousand wounds but they can also raise a person's spirit up to the heavens.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! I'm back! Okay I have to admit that I'm a bit late on this update but I had several different problems which all amounted to this not being updated till now but… on the good side It's half term now so I'll be able to update much more frequently in order to make it up. **

**But still anyway onto the question and answers:**

**readit24**

**Q: Is Naruto still able to perform powerful jutsu in his three-four year old body?**

**A: Unfortunately no he isn't capable of performing any Justu's in his new body. This is because since the Kyuubi is no longer inhabiting his body his stamina is greatly lowered. Also he younger now so one, he has very little chakra within him and two, at this age he had yet to even enter the academy so his body is unused to handling any chakra and because of that he is unable to use any powerful jutsu. But still even if he can't use any powerful justu's doesn't mean that no one else can…**

**A.S.-sama**

**Q:** **Where is Kyuu-san? He returned to his previous vessel or something?**

**A: Kyuubi… I haven't really thought about him that much to be honest however if you really want to know then after Naruto was sent into then when Naruto used the Jutsu he essentially used up all of the Kyuubi in order to complete it. You see if you ask the Kyuubi is essentially a large mass of chakra that is sentient. The jutsu that Naruto used in order to beat Pein needed insane amounts of chakra therefore in order to complete it Naruto used up all of the Kyuubi's chakra meaning that it is no more.**

**Oh and I just wanted to say a massive thank you to Random Flyer. Your reviews for all three of my chapters were amazing so all that I can really say is thanks.**

**But still, anyway onto the story…**

Chapter 4

It was Jiraya...

Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing, yet as little particles of dust began to slowly float down to the ground around him he found that he couldn't deny the sight before him. breath hitching his heart began to beat faster and faster as his sensei looked at him; his face blank with un-recognition.

Gazing into those deep depths devoid of any recognition Naruto's heart clenched. A million and one words threatened to spill out of his mouth yet at the last minute he hesitated, retreating backwards slightly. This was not his Jiraya, the Jiraya that he knew and loved. To this man he was nothing more than another stranger. Breathing out through his mouth Naruto slowly began to stand up on shaky legs before starting to turn around…

GGGGRRRRRRR! Looking down at his stomach Naruto grimaced as a jittery, butterfly feeling spread throughout his stomach, belching loudly and informing him of its need for food. Food… who knows how long it had been since he had last eaten… A day? Two days? When he thought about it it wasn't a surprise that he was feeling hungry; in fact it was surprising to think that it hadn't happened before.

_Finding_ the food that his stomach desperately needed though was a different question. he was penniless and had no way of finding money any time soon. The only options would be to steal or beg for food. Of course the latter was out of the question so he would no option other than to beg. Sighing to himself Naruto slowly began to walk away…

"Hey, wait a minute kiddo! Seeing as I caused you to have a pretty violent introduction with the ground… would you like me to treat you to some ramen? After all no offense kid but you look like you haven't eaten in days." Freezing momentarily Naruto abruptly turned around; shock evident on his face. Jiraya had invited him, a mere, stranger to eat some ramen… Why?

…

There was something about that kid. As soon as he laid his eyes upon him he knew that there was something different about him; something that separated him from every other three to four year old that he had met, what though he couldn't place his finger on which frustrated him greatly.

As the young child began to shakily stand up he continued to rack his brains for answers but his efforts bore no fruit to his great annoyance. It was only a few seconds later that he finally noticed something. Just before standing completely upright the boy seemed to summon up energy from who knows where and shot right up; creating small trail of yellow behind the boy's bright blonde hair. It kind of reminded him of a yellow flash…

A yellow flash…Konoha's yellow flash… Minato Namikaze…_'Of course!' _mentally berating himself Jiraya's eye's widened as he realised what it was that was bugging him… The boy was practically the splitting image of Minato at his age!

But that was impossible right? After all his favourite student was an orphan seemingly devoid of any family. Unless... he had siblings…Siblings that were abandoned just like him… Siblings that may not necessarily have had the fortune of being found soon after abandonment… The boy looked way too much like his former pupil to not be related.

So the boy was probably related to Minato? What now? As the boy slowly began to walk away he frowned. What to do… what should he do? He couldn't just let a potential relative to a man who had been searching for a family for years just walk away after all. But how could he convince the boy to stay? How?

GGGGRRRRRRR! Of course! The boy looked as if he hadn't had a proper meal in years meaning that he must be starving, and as the old saying goes if you want to catch a bee then bait it with honey. Smirking to himself Jiraya spoke the words that he knew would seal the deal "Hey, wait a minute kiddo! Seeing as I caused you to have a pretty violent introduction with the ground… would you like me to treat you to some ramen? After all no offense kid but you look like you haven't eaten in days."

Watching closely as the boy immediately froze for the briefest of seconds before sharply spinning around on his heels to face him with an evidently shocked face, Jiraya came to a few conclusions. Firstly; the boy was adorable. Wide blue shimmering orbs that reminded him of the ocean on a hot summer day framed by bright blond hair accompanied by three whisker marks on each cheek made the child look so cute that it could be considered a sin. Secondly the locals of this town were insane; how on earth could they just leave such a cute kid on the streets to fend for himself, it was crazy! And finally there was something about this kid that was compelling him to make sure that the kid was immediately. Why, he didn't know however even if the kid wasn't a relative of Minato's he sure as hell was going to make sure that the kid found a safe and warm home with a loving family away from the harsh reality that is life on the streets.

…

Why? Why would he do that? Why would he bother inviting a mere stranger to ramen? Why? A million strands of the same line of thought raced around Naruto's mind forming a jumbled sea of confusion and shock.

"So" Shaking his head in order to clear his thoughts in response to Jiraya's prompt Naruto frowned.

_I can't do it… If I go with him then I may end up changing the future and I CANNOT let that happen!_

_**Oh please… It's just one meal. How much harm could one meal do?**_

_But there's always a chance of it affecting the future…_

_**You're hungry. How much harm could one meal do? Besides if you don't do this then you may never have another chance to talk with your precious mentor…**_

_But the risks…_

_**Do you really want to spend the next few hours sitting on some filth street in the faint hope of getting the tiniest piece of bread when you could instead have dozens of bowls of delicious ramen for free?**_

_The lives of my precious people are far too important to risk just for the sake of nice meal!_

_**Yes but if you don't then as I said before this could be the last time you ever get to see your precious mentor… Ever since his death you've always wanted another chance to see him, to speak with him, to laugh with him… Are you really going to let that slip through your fingers?**_

_But…_

_**No buts!**_

GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR! Hearing his stomach growl in protest Naruto shook his head as he was roughly thrown out of his reverie. He was starving… Besides it was only one meal… One meal couldn't change the future could it? Taking in a deep breath Naruto formed a shaky smile as for the first time since he had been launched into the past he spoke "sure… why not?"

…

He was there… He had arrived… As Minato finally reached the edge of the forest powered more chakra into the soles of his feet before making a giant leap and landing on the ground below with a grace that only a ninja could achieve. Straightening his legs and back so that he could adopt a proud and confident pose Minato observed his surroundings before faintly smiling as he entered Isogashi village… he was going to find his little brother no matter what it took...

…

Tall... The stool was way too tall… Glaring at the evil creature that was barring the way to a heavenly rameny paradise Naruto desperately tried to reach the red top of the ramen stand stool, however to his frustration his efforts were in vain.

Pouting to himself Naruto decided that a change of tactics was in desperate need and squatted down low. After a brief second of glaring at the evil monster he launched himself at the stool. Time seemed to slow down as he got closer and closer to his goal. As the middle finger of his right hand grazed the top of the red stool Naruto smiled. For the briefest of moments he was floating; the forces of the world around him completely balanced. And then… time sped up as gravity began to pull him back down to the cruel and ramen-less ground below. Glaring at the evil stool Naruto pouted however deciding not to give up he started to madly jump around the stool, glaring at it all the while as with each jump he came tantalisingly close to his goal before being dragged back to the ground by the evil force known as gravity.

Looking at the boy as he madly jumped around the ramen stool next to him Jiraya quietly chuckled to himself. If he had thought that the boy was cute before then right now the kid was the most adorable creature on earth. After a few more minutes of watching the kid Jump about Jiraya finally decided to do something as he effortlessly picked the boy up from under his armpits and placed him on his lap since, if he couldn't even reach the top of the ramen stand _stool_ then he highly doubted the kid's ability to reach the stands counter. Watching the kid squirm on his lap Jiraya smiled; he really was a cute kid.

...

Careful… he needed to be vigilant, cautious and careful. Walking around the villages market Minato kept his eyes peeled for his brother, observing every detail in order to make sure that he didn't miss him by accident. His efforts were in vain though as he failed to find any sign of his little brother. Sighing in frustration Minato continued onwards. If there was one thing that he refused to do then it was giving in at the first hurdle.

…

He was being lifted upwards. As the ground slowly began to get further and further away from him he looked upwards at his old mentor who was slowly lifting him up by the armpits. Shock and surprise stilling him Naruto let himself be lifted into Jiraya's lap before squirming slightly as he turned around and looked at the pervert.

Noticing that the kid was looking at him weirdly Jiraya couldn't help but defend himself "what, it's obvious that you weren't going to be getting up there any time soon and if you couldn't even reach the stool then no offense but I highly doubt that you would be able to reach the counter so I decided to help you out!" In response the kid simply shook his head and turned back around to face the menu that had just been handed to him.

…

Continuing to walk around the village Minato couldn't help but become more frustrated by the minute as he continued to search for his brother. An entire hour of searching had borne no fruits, at all.

Carrying on with his search Minato continued to walk through the village; passing by a ramen stand from which a long trail of shockingly white hair could be seen.

'_a long trail of shockingly white hair… Jiraya!' _ Recognising the hair of his former mentor Minato headed towards the ramen stand. If there was one man in all of the elemental nations that could help him find his little brother then it was Jiraya.

…

The ramen was good; Naruto decided at slurped up the remains of his third bowl of miso ramen; not nearly as good as Ichiraku's of course, but still pretty good. Looking around at his surroundings Naruto couldn't help but smile. He was eating ramen to his heart's content and for the moment at least life was good.

Of course good things never last for long and just as he was about to start his fourth bowl the flaps of the ramen stand were lifted up as someone entered. Curious as to whom the man was Naruto stole a look at the man and froze. He knew that face. He had seen it etched out in stone so many times. It was the fourth Hokage. It was his father…

...

Entering the ramen stand Minato looked to his right in order to face his sensei and then saw it… Or rather should I say _him_… Blonde hair and blue eyes with whisker marks on each cheek… it was his brother.

Taking a closer look at his brother he noticed that the boy's eyes had a hazy edge to it… the boy was clearly daydreaming. About what he didn't know however it gave him the chance of being able to talk to jiraya without his little brother hearing.

Sitting himself next to the old man Minato nudged him in order to gain his attention. As Jiraya turned around to face him he broke into a smile "Minato! Just who I wanted to see! I was actually planning on talking to you about something" He exclaimed joyfully.

"I'm guessing that the something you want to talk about is to do with the boy on your lap." Minato commented dryly

"Yeah, do you know anything about him?" Curiosity had a clear presence in Jiraya's tone as he responded to Minato's remark.

"Apart from the fact that I found him bleeding to death several days ago, that according to the DNA test that Tsunade conducted behind my back he's my little brother and that he evidently doesn't like hospitals considering that he ran away from one soon after awakening and most probably is an orphan who lives on the streets not much" the jounin said in reply.

"He's your little brother? Thought he was something along those lines, there's too much of a resemblance between the two of you for that not to be the case. So what are you going to with him?"

"I was personally planning on finding a way of taking him back to Konoha without revealing that I'm his brother so that I could get to know him better and then telling him after our arrival… If you want you could come with us, I'm sure that the third Hokage would be delighted to have you back home."

"Hmmmm… I'll think about it" The sage simply said in reply and he began to ponder on whether to return home… even if only for a short while. The two of them started to talk about a variety of different thing whilst a certain young boy on Jiraya's lap mind was in a far-away place…

…

"_Hey Jiraya?"_

"_Yeah, what is it kid?"_

"_Do you know who my dad was?" _

_It was evening and Naruto and Jiraya had made camp for the night. Having nothing better to do Naruto had decided to ask his mentor a question that had been on his mind for a while. A question that judging by the way that the old man had frozen he knew the answer to. _

"_So?" he prompted, desperate to finally know the answer to the question that had plagued him for so long… Jiraya meanwhile seemed to be having an internal debate, as if he was unsure as to whether he should tell the truth or not. After what seemed to be an eternity he finally responded._

"_Your father… Your father was Minato Namikaze… known by many as Konoha's yellow flash… Your father was the fourth Hokage…"_

It had such a long time since Jiraya had told him about the identity of his father, yet whenever he thought of that night he would recall the memories in such clarity that it was as if it had only happened yesterday. They had never spoken about him again after that night and when he returned to Konoha he never told anyone about what he knew.

He had always wanted to know though. He had always wanted to know what sort of a person he was. Was he strict? Was he mischievous? Was he a ramen fanatic like he was? There were so many that he had wanted to know about his father; A father that was less than a meter away from him.

_**You could stay you know… Stay and get to find out more about him… all that you would have to do is give up on **_

_No! I can't do that… right?.._

Shaking his head Naruto desperately tried to clear his mind as Minato and Jiraya both continued to talk abaout a variety of different things.

What to do though… What to do…

BAM! There was an explosion. From where he didn't know however he could see that the reaction to it was immediate. People started to panic rushing in all directions as panicked screams began to fill the air. Lifting his head up he saw Minato and Jiraya look at each other seriously before Jiraya looked at him. "Stay here" He commanded before the two men left to see what was going on.

Naruto though had other ideas. If he stayed any longer then he would most likely end up changing the future in some way or form; something that he simply could not risk. So as soon as the two men had left his sight he fled; heading towards a nearby alley before quickly entering it.

The alley was dark; dark, cold and muddy with rats scurrying about in the deepest and darkest corners. Taking in a deep breath Naruto began to walk deeper and deeper into its shadowy embrace._ 'I have to keep going… for Sakura… for Lee… for the old lady… for Kakashi sensei… for all of my precious people' _Repeating those thoughts like a mantra inside of his mind Naruto kept on going. He was all alone… no one there t-

_Creak… _Naruto swiftly turned around as his breath started to become faster… faster… someone was watching him. Adrenalin flowing through his body Naruto tried to see where his stalker was however he couldn't find them. Then, suddenly a shadow flickered in the corner of his eye and his head jerked in its direction only to see a bat coming closer… closer… closer until BAM! The bat hit his head with a brutal force until the world started to become darker… darker… and darker till consciousness began to elude him as he started to fall towards the floor…

**Tadaaaa! Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading it and onto the notes!**

**Notes:**

**Conflicting views: This is my way of portray the two sides of what Naruto wants to do. The normal italic represents the side of Naruto that wants to refrain from doing **_**anything **_**that could change the future whilst the bold italic represents the side of Naruto that is desperate for company. The side of him that is secretly terrified of being alone and is willing to take risks in order to be with his loved ones… Even if just for a brief period of time…**

**But still… all that I can now say is if you have any question's then please review me them and even if you don't then still review since it many no longer be big and it may no longer be blue however the option is still there so just review!**

**See you soon**

**The pianist 123**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guy's. I'm back! I know its been a while however it took a while for me to properly develop this chapter into something that I am proud to call my own. But still onto the Questions and answers!**

**dbzsotrum9:**

**Q) 1) why is nobody commenting on Naruto's whisker marks?**

**A1) Well actually in chapter 2 Minato does remark them saying that they look to perfect and symmetrical to be birthmarks but I see what you mean. The reason why is simply because they haven't had the time to comment on them. They may just start wondering about that in future questions.**

**2) Could Naruto get a crush on Kushina? (not paired, crush... cause while she is his mom, he actually never knew her and she'd just be a very attractive young woman)**

**A2) Hmmmm… I'm not sure. If he meets her then perhaps, perhaps not… If he were to have a crush on her then it wouldn't be for very long however it is a **_**very**_** interesting idea…**

**Q3) What about Naruto's last name? (since Uzumaki is his rightful last name cause of the Uzumaki clan, him being a part of said clan is not gonna be known cause he's not from this timeline)**

**A3) His rightful name is Uzumaki I agree but since he is in the past he will most probably end up forgoing that name and either go without a surname or gain the surname Namikaze if Minato finally manages to get a hold of him.**

**Q4) When will the Kyuubi attack happen? 10 yrs from the current point? less?**

**A4) Minato is 17 right now. I've decided to make him Hokage at the age of 25 and four years after that at the age of 29 the Kyuubi attack will happen which is in 12 years. **

**Q5) When are he and Kushina gonna become the Uzumaki family?**

**A5) that will be revealed… in future chapters…**

**Tuttachechka**

**Q)** **What About Minato Naruto has known from Jiraya?**

**A) Simple things really. Stuff like about his name and his status as Hokage as well as how he died and probably some funny stories about him too.**

**Random Flyer**

**Q) I also realized as I read this that Minato doesn't know Naruto's name. In fact, nobody in the past knows Naruto's name yet. Considering the significance behind it, I'm curious if Naruto will continue to use his own name or will come up with a new one. At this point in the timeline that name might not have any meaning for Minato, but Jiraiya will recognize it from his book right away.**

**A) Hmmmm… Good question. To be honest I've wanted someone to pick up on that for quite a while. I gave some thought into this quite a while back and I even researched some names on the internet but after a while I decided that no, I wouldn't change his name. Namely because Naruto hasn't really given any thought into this subject, so when his name is asked for he will most probably end up just saying his name because he can't think of anything else; and because at the time he will probably believe that Jiraya will never hear of the name since they will never meet again and hence no problem.**

**But still anyway Thank Thank THANK YOU for the reviews! I can't believe that I have 100 reviews! So, all that I can say is a massive thank to everyone and enjoy the next chapter!**

**Disclamer: I am not Japanese... I do not speak a word of Japanese... I cannot read Kanji either... Hence it is impossible for me to own Naruto.**

Chapter 5

Darkness. He was greeted with darkness. Slowly Opening his eyes Naruto groaned as he peered into the inky blackness; waiting for his eyesight to slowly adjust as, for a few seemingly unending moments that darkness pressed onto him from every corner; desperately trying to extinguish his shallow breaths. Finally though; after what seemed to be an eternity the darkness began to subside as his eyes slowly got used to his surroundings.

He was in a cell: A filthy cell with grimy walls and rusty metal door. The floor was covered with small tufts of decomposing hay with a giant mound of it in the right corner of the cell; a giant mound with something … no… _someone _leaning against it. Taking a closer look he examined his fellow cell-mate.

It was a girl… Or at least he thought that the creature with her long, matted hair dyed a dark brown from blood and months of filth and with her hunched back and bones' jutting out of her severely malnourished frame was a girl; girl or not though it was horrifying. So horrifying that bile rose to his throat as he observed her; her current state was sickening.

Whether she was alive or not he did not know; however he would have to find out. He wanted to… _needed _to know where he was. He didn't want to end up like her… he _couldn't _end up like her... right?..

Gathering up his courage he breathed in deeply "where are we?" he asked, his voice eerily echoing around the room as he spoke.

There was no answer.

Trying again, he repeated his question "Where are we?" he asked again.

No answer.

For a few tense moments silence reigned throughout the room. As the seconds slowly drew by Naruto began to lose hope, when suddenly a hollow croak reverberated throughout the room. It was a ghastly sound; one that would forever haunt his nightmares. It was a simple one word answer.

"Hell…"

…

It was official the young jounin decided as he scoured the ramen bar in the vain hope that his little brother would pop out from the middle of nowhere. He, Minato Namikaze was an idiot; A complete and utter idiot.

In hindsight it was stupid; so stupid; how _could_ he have left his little brother; a little brother that he had yet to properly introduce himself to on his own. How? Now that what was actually just a minor robbery was cleared up he couldn't help but groan in frustration. He. Was. An. Idiot!

Deciding that it was futile to stay where he was he started to head towards the town square, hoping to find his brother there instead. As he began to raise the flap of the ramen bar he took a step forward… and immediately bumped into Jiraya.

"Hey! Watch where you're going kid! You're supposed to be a ninja dammnit!" His mentor grumbled; unhappy about the absentmindedness of his former pupil.

"Sorry, sensei… I was about to go look for my brother" Minato apologised; slightly embarrassed about being so unaware of his surroundings that he had ended up bumping into his former sensei.

"…Wait… He's gone?" Jiraya simply asked in response.

"Yes he is… I was just about to go looking for him. Why" Minato asked, slightly worried by Jiraya's unusual reaction.

"This is bad… very bad…" The elder ninja simply murmured in response.

"What _is_ so bad?" Minato questioned, his ninja hearing picking up on what his mentor had said.

"After you left I heard rumour's… Rumours about the recent disappearances of children in the past few months; they would literally disappear and never be seen again." He said; a frown forming upon his face.

"Is that true for all of the children?" Minato questioned.

"Yes… save for one. He was found a few weeks after his disappearance, however when the villagers tried to get any information out of him, all that he would do was chant one word over and over again."

"What was that word?" Minato asked, curious as to what the answer was.

"Hell…"

….

He had been here for what seemed to be an eternity now. At first it had been terrifying scary. But as the minutes went by, and his time-wasting attempts at getting more information from the girl bore no fruit he soon became bored; really bored. He wanted to escape dammit!

He had tried opening the door by force- turns out that for a rusty old door that looks as if it had been abandoned for decades it was surprisingly sturdy so… It didn't work.

He had tried getting someone's attention so that they would open the door for him allowing him to escape in the process- That also didn't work; were his captors deaf or something? If they were going to capture him then they could _at least _come over when he called them so that he could escape!

Then, he tried singing really loudly and badly so that someone would get a bad enough migraine that they would come over in order to try and shut him up- It was official; his captors had been bestowed with the disability of deafness. Out of all the captors in the world that had to come and kidnap him it just had to be the ones that couldn't hear him didn't it?

Silently grumbling to himself Naruto paced around the room. If only he could break that door down… If only … Of course! Why on earth didn't he think of it before?

Smiling to himself Naruto quickly formed the necessary hand-sign needed for the Kage Bunshin no jutsu so that he could then form a rasengan and break the door. Smiling to himself he looked to his right, expecting a clone to appear out of nowhere as they usually did. But… Nothing happened…

How could this be? Staring at the palms of his hands Naruto frowned, trying to figure out the source of this anomaly. A few seconds of shocked silence later his eyes widened as he came to terms with a shocking truth.

Three to Four year old body= no academy training. No academy training= no chakra control training. No chakra control training= his body does not know how to use charka. His body not knowing how to use charka= he can't use any jutsu's… not very helpful when trying to bust down evil doors that refused to be opened.

Deciding that his earlier method's were stupid and pointless after his latest revelation Naruto instead settled for just standing there, glaring at the door with all of his might. The big bad guys would have to come sometime and when that time came he would be ready.

….

"So basically what you're trying to tell me is that my little brother; who I have yet to properly introduce myself to; has most likely been kidnapped by an evil organisation that appeared a few months… and may just end up being driven insane judging by the state of the one person that was found after his kidnapping right?" Minato asked ever so slightly incredulously.

"As much as I hate to admit it yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to tell you." Jiraya confirmed; his tone uncharacteristically serious.

"We will have to find them then. Whatever it is that they're doing to those children is definitely not good and I definitely do not want my little brother involved in that" Minato said seriously.

"Not gonna be so simple. Some of Konoha's finest jounin's were sent to investigate the organisation a few months ago and found nothing according to the villagers."

Frowning slightly Minato interrupted the perverted ninja "Jounin's? Investigating what could simply be a village rumour hardly seems like the sort of mission that the third would send jounin's on?" He couldn't help but say.

"Usually it isn't however the mayor's daughter was one of the children kidnapped, and the man refused to employ any less than the 'best' in order to find his 'precious daughter'"

"Oh, I see…" Minato commented

"Yeah…"

For a few moments there was silence as the two ninja's became absorbed in their inner world's; Minato in particular. As the seconds ticked by he slowly began to formulate a plan and after another few minutes he finally spoke up. "We may still be able to find them though"

"Oh really… and how do you plan on doing that" Jiraya challenged; sceptical about whatever plan Minato could have come up with in the brief period of time.

"Simple. Think about it… This organisation is obviously very good at hiding. Judging by the fact that a team of jounin where incapable of finding them I'm guessing that looking for them would be a complete waste of time. However if we could get them to capture one of us then we could instead infiltrate the facility before freeing everyone including my little brother."

"That won't work. The organisation doesn't kidnap adults" Jiraya pointed out.

"I never said that we would be infiltrating them as adults…"

….

_Creak…_

As the door finally began to open Naruto's ears twitched upwards as he crouched down; preparing to run and make a break for it as soon as the door was fully open and counting down to zero in his head as he did so.

_Three…_ The narrow slit of light gradually got larger and larger as the rusty hinges of the door began to screech loudly in protest.

_Two… _The slit of light was no longer narrow now. He could even just about begin to see the corridor that lay behind the rusty door. It was almost as dirty and grimy as the cell, the only real difference being that there was no hay and the walls weren't filthy enough to have any grime on them.

_One… _ The door was almost fully open now and he could clearly see the corridor… as well and the humongous man that guarded it: it would soon be time to run.

_Zero… _launching himself at the man Naruto desperately tried to make a break for it; hoping to get past him to freedom.

It wasn't to be though. Within a few moments the guard had caught him and held him in a tight hold. One that no matter how hard or passionately he thrashed about was impossible to escape from. A few moments after he finally calmed down the man released him, only to roughly grab his wrist a split second later. With a violent pull the man began to drag him down the corridor. His destination was unknown to Naruto however as he once again began to rebel against the man's touch he decided that he sure as hell didn't was to find out.

…...

"So basically what you're planning to do is use this experimental jutsu of yours called the… Shukudō Justu?.. and use that to temporally turn yourself into a child in order to get yourself captured and in the process infiltrate the organisation and save your little brother." Jiraya confirmed with a raised eyebrow.

"Essentially yes that's what I plan to do… But it's called the _Shukushō _jutsu, not the Shukudō jutsu Jiraya." The younger jounin corrected.

"Shukushō, Shukudō… Who cares! Don't you get how serious this is. Your basically crippling yourself before handing yourself over to the enemy. What will you do if they realise that you're a ninja and you're incapable of defending yourself huh? What will you do?" Jiraya practically shouted.

"If that happens then I will immediately cancel the jutsu and return to my adult self" Minato calmly responded.

A few tense moments followed in which both parties shared a heated glare; each trying to force the other into submission. After what seemed like an eternity Jiraya finally relented "Fine… Go along with this foolish plan of yours. I'll give you a week to complete and you had _better _be back by then. If you're not then I'll be coming after you and I will _not _be happy. Clear?" He growled; looking for confirmation.

"Crystal." Minato simply said in reply.

…...

"Welcome to your new home brat!" the man growled before throwing Naruto into the room and slamming the door behind him. Panting slightly after his violent entrance Naruto slowly looked up.

He was in a dormitory; a very bland dormitory with grey walls and five grey beds to his right as well as another five to his left. Every bed minus two of them was occupied and all of their occupants stared at Naruto; sizing him up as if he were a piece of fresh meat; It was disconcerting to say the least.

Taking a closer look at them Naruto's eyes widened as he noticed something. There was something unnatural about each and every one of these children. The closest one to his right had Blood red eyes that seemed to glow. The second closest one on his left had large rabbit ears sticking out of his head. These children… They were being experimented on…

As he observed them and they observed him Naruto suddenly got a very, _very_ bad feeling…

**DUN DUN DUN! What will happen to Naruto will he be experimented on? Or will Minato save him from that horrible fate? Who knows…**

**But still onto the notes!**

**Notes:**

**Shukushō jutsu: According to Google translate Shukushō means shrinking in Japanese so Minato's jutsu is called the shrinking jutsu. Basically how it works is that the person using it is turned into a child. This means that whilst the jutsu is still working the caster cannot use any chakra or justu however they can cancel the jutsu at any time they want and immediately turn back into an adult with all of their usual abilities. Or at least that's what is supposed to happen. The jutsu is an experimental one after all…**

**But still the button may no longer be big and it may no longer be blue however it is still there so review!**

**P.S: Oh and if there are any Twilight fans reading this then a friend of mine without an account has started a Twilight fanfiction and has asked me to post it on mine and it's really good so if you like Twilight then you should definitely go have a look!**

**See you soon!**

**The pianist 123**


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